MONSTER ISLAND RECORDING STUDIOS NYC
Miley Cyrus album cover     Kesha Warrior album cover     Katy Perry I Kissed A Girl #1 and multiple platinum album cover     Train Imagine album cover     Chaka Khan grammy winning album cover

Boys Like Girls Love Drunk album cover     Forever The Sickest Kids album cover     Cobra Starship album cover     2AM Club album cover     Avril Lavign #1 and multiplatinum album cover

You've come to the right place if you're looking for one of the best recording studios in New York City. At Monster Island you can track, mix and master in ProTools 12 HD. We are well known for our drum sounds which can be heard on #1 and Grammy winning records from Avril Lavigne, Katy Perry Chaka Khan, and new releases from Kesha, Miley Cyrus and Train. However, we record, mix and master all types of instruments and styles of music for all ranges of recording budgets.

The fastest way to contact us is by sending an email to studio4@monsterislandrecording.com For additional contact information, see below.

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APPROACH
Rates vs Cost
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RECORDINGS Listen to:
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NEWS/CREDITS Recent Sessions
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Why record at Monster Island?

Monster Island is an owner-operated studio that people come to when they care about reaching their goals. For some it's about the ideal environment to be creative and record their music exactly as they imagined, but most people come here because they want the sound that has lead to unsigned bands getting record deals, platinum and gold sales, #1 hits on the radio and Grammy Awards.

Monster Island's recording credits span from mainstream pop hits like Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend and Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl to R&B like Chaka Khan, to the modern rock of Boys Like Girls, Cobra Starship and Coheed and Cambria, to indie artists like The Takeover UK and even bluegrass, jazz and international artists who've traveled to NYC from Europe and Australia specifically to work here.

As a studio, Monster Island is unique in that it's one of the few places left in Manhattan where you can get great drum sounds and track a full band to two inch tape while isolating the sounds from all of the musicians. We record to two inch analog tape and ProTools 10 HD through Radar Nyquist Converters in a Bob Hodas-tuned control room, and have more than 24 channels of Neve, Chandler, Pendulum tube mic pres, compressors and EQs. Mixing is a hybrid of analog and digital that's unique in the computer assisted recall of the analog EQs.

Many of the recording artists who come here have the budget and experience to go anywhere in the world want, but we have extensive experience making the smallest budgets work. Follow the link on rates vs cost for more information.

Engineering and set up time is shorter than other studios because all of the analog recording equipment is left set up, patched in and and ready to record. Not only does this save time and money, but more importantly it saves artistic energy for the actual recording rather than wasting it on the set up.

About Mike Caffrey

Monster Island's owner, Mike Caffrey, has made a living producing and engineering recordings in NYC since 1995.

His specialty as a producer is helping recording artists articulate their vision, and then translating it into and actual finished, completed recording. He is an progressive thinker about the current and future business of recording and is always interested in the most unique prjects and approaches.

After graduating from Berklee College of Music as a guitar player, he started Monster Island in a small room in the Meat Packing District in 1995. Moved to the current location in 2000, and has worked on multiple #1, gold, platinum and Grammy winning recordings in this studio.

He has toured Europe as part of Richard Muller's "all-star superband" with Omar Hakim, Will Lee, Hiram Bullock and Clifford Carter.

He's a Senior Contributor and conference moderator/panelist for Tape Op Magazine.

He leads The Number One Sons a performance team with Steven Wolf and Jack Daley, who specialize in live rhythm section recordings with both US and international clients.

In recent years he's expanded in to production and direction of visuals, both motion and stills. He's shot magazine and book covers, directed and shot music videos, often shoots the album artwork for artists who record here, and of course numerous live performances. The intimate relationship formed in the studio, allows a deeper connection than possible with someone who's only relationship with the band is through photography. It's very different being photographed by the person who's made your album with you than by a stranger. It's something no amount of experience can change.

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Testimonials

"Mike's sounds are tight" - Dr Luke
"Mike Caffrey is a genius" - Tony Visconti
"My favorite guy to record drums with" - John Keefe
"The best drum sounds ever" - Aaron Comess
"The best drum sounds ever" - Kyle Burns FTSK
"The best drum sounds ever" - Matt McGinly
"These drum sounds are bananas" - Steve Wolf
"There's a special energy here" - Omar hakim

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Monster Island





"Where the monster sounds come from"